The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
The popularity of pickup trucks has grown significantly in recent years. Such vehicles have always been popular with contractors, and such contractors often use their pickup trucks as their main mode of transportation outside of work. Pickup truck ownership has also grown with non-contractors, in part due to the increasing refinement and comfort of present day pickup trucks, as well as the utility that non-contractors find in having such a vehicle that is capable of transporting a wide variety of cargo.
One limitation with pickup trucks has been the lack of any built-in stowage system for containing items typically carried by contractors and individuals. Such items may include load supporting cross bars; bed partitioning cross bars; miscellaneous items such as battery jumper cables and emergency markers that may be deployed on a road to notify on-coming traffic of a stalled or otherwise inoperable vehicle; and other small tools. Often the pickup truck owner has kept some of these types of items in a separate tool box in the cabin of the vehicle or in the bed of the vehicle. However, some items such as cargo supporting cross bars or load partitioning cross bars are too big to fit in most tool boxes, and must therefore be stored in the cabin or in the bed of the vehicle. This is undesirable for the obvious reason that storing such items in the cabin takes up valuable room that may be needed for passengers riding in the vehicle. Storing such items in the bed when they are not needed for use may be undesirable because they can potentially interfere with other cargo that needs to be carried in the bed of the vehicle, or they may shift around in the bed unless they are restrained with suitable restraints such as bungee cords.
As such, there is still a need for some type of stowage system that does not use valuable space inside the cabin or within the bed of a pickup truck.